


A Fairy's Tale

by AnnieVH



Series: Rumple and the Spinsters [5]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Backstory, Comfort, F/F, Fairies, Family, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 15:12:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2737286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnieVH/pseuds/AnnieVH
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aunt Flora comforts Rumpel with a story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Fairy's Tale

**Author's Note:**

> Beta: maddiebonanafana as always. Thank you, Maddie!
> 
> Prompt: im-not-a-what prompted: […] Now I want to know your backstory for them!

The first night, Fauna had told her to let him cry. He didn’t know them and would feel embarrassed if Flora tried to comfort him. It was one thing if he sought them out and asked for a shoulder to cry on; it was another to overhear it in the middle of the night and assume he wanted them there.

But after one month, Flora’d still wake up to the boy’s muffled cries against his pillow. The sound of the boy weeping (that didn’t seem to bother Fauna at all) broke Flora’s heart night after night. And although it was soft and it didn’t pull her out of her sleep, she could no longer ignore it.

When she got up, Fauna demanded, “Where are you going?”

“To check on him.”

“He doesn’t want you to check on him. He wants to be left alone. He needs some time to grieve.”

“And  _I_  need to make sure he’s alright. Is that a crime?”

Fauna sighed heavily, but didn’t protest any further.

Rumpel stopped crying the moment Flora opened the bedroom door. “Are you alright, Rumpel dear?”

He didn’t answer.

In bed, Fauna made a short sound with her throat that Flora interpreted as “I told you so.” She ignored it and closed the door before heading for Rumpel’s bed.

“You shouldn’t be ashamed of crying,” she said, sitting on the edge of his bed. “Crying is good. Keeping all the sadness inside will only turn you bitter. And angry.”

His little hand wiped away a tear, but he didn’t answer.

“You know,” she continued, “I can hear you sometimes.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled, after a moment.

“You don’t have to apologize to me. It’s alright. I know it’s difficult to lose the ones we love. I just meant that you don’t have to stay here alone, if you don’t want to.”

Rumpel sniffed.

“Would you like to hear a story? It might make you feel better.”

He nodded, but didn’t turn to look at her.

Flora knew he had only agreed because he thought that was what she wanted to hear, but she took the chance anyway.

“Do you know what a fairy is?”

Papa had told stories about fairies before. Little women with wings and magical powers that could grant you wishes. Papa also said they were beautiful and that Mum reminded him of a fairy, with her wavy blonde hair and delicate hands. Rumpel had no idea if that was true because Papa had the bad habit of making stories sound bigger than they actually were. Besides, he never got to meet his mother.

He nodded to Aunt Flora’s question.

She smiled. “Have you ever seen one?”

The boy shook his head.

“I only ask because stories don’t really make them justice. They are enchanting creatures, those fairies. But also very cunning. Their beauty and size can be deceiving, you must never underestimate them.”

She brushed his hair. His eyes fluttered open and she could see he was paying attention now.

“All fairies were women once. Mortal women, just like Aunt Fauna and me. But not every woman can be a fairy, mind you. Only very particular women. Every other century, the Reul Ghorm looks down from the sky in search of-”

The boy interrupted, “What is the Reul Ghorm?”

“Why, the Blue Star. Haven’t you heard of the Blue Star?”

He shook his head again.

“She’s the brightest star in the sky. The first to rise every night and the last to die every morning. And she is always watching over us. Now, every other century, the Reul Ghorm looks down from the sky in search of women with a heart full of kindness and a will to help others. A heart that is willing to put everybody else first.

“When the Reul Ghorm makes her choice, these women are given a set of wings and a magic wand and they are taken away to be trained. Some day, they might even become the Fairy Godmother of a little prince or princess.”

Rumpel turned his head on the pillow so he could watch her.

Flora gave him a smile that quickly turned into a solemn expression as she continued her story. “But magic always comes with a price. Even light magic. For when you give up your mortal life for a pair of wings, you are also giving up your free will. A fairy cannot give in to the selfish impulses of mortals. She cannot ever put herself first. She can be sad, but she may not cry. She can be angry, but she may not hate. She can be scared, but she must never, ever run away. And she cannot love another like ordinary people do. She must love all equally. All her will must now be dedicated to the greater good. A fairy must master her own feelings because too many people rely on her.”

Rumpel looked at her, mesmerized.

“Once upon a time,” Aunt Flora continued, “there lived the most beautiful fairy of all. The story of who she was before she was given her wings is lost to everyone except herself, but there is no doubt that she had been a woman full of love and who had always cared for others. All the other fairies called her Green. I know,” she said when she saw him frown. “It is a funny thing, but all fairies are called by the color of their garments.”

“Why?”

Flora took a moment to think about it. “I think it makes it easier for them to forget their past. To give in completely to their new lives.”

Rumpel thought about that and concluded, “That’s a little sad.”

“Yes,” Aunt Flora nodded, looking away. “I suppose it is.”

When she didn’t continue, Rumpel asked, “Why was Green the most beautiful of all?”

She turned back to look at him and light returned to her eyes. “Oh, because she simply was. You had to see her. She had curly blonde hair and it was such a messy thing. Her eyes were so very full of wonder, as if she could see just how marvelous every little living thing was. And she was graceful like no other fairy ever was. When you first get your wings, you look like a clumsy bird who doesn’t know what she is doing, flying into tree trunks or getting stuck in the most unexpected places.”

Rumpel giggled.

“Not Green. She mastered her wings as soon as she had them on her back. If fairies were allowed to feel envy, they would all have envied her. And she was funny. Green always made everybody laugh. Close your eyes, dearest.” Rumpel obeyed, but she could see he was still paying attention to her story. “Among the fairies that had been chosen a few decades before her was a little thing they all called Red. Well. I say little, but she was actually one of the tallest in the bunch.”

“Where did she come from?”

Flora shrugged. “From a family, like all mortals do. But that didn’t matter for her anymore. She-”

His eyes opened slightly. “Didn’t she miss them?”

“Close your eyes, dearest,” she asked again. When Rumpel obeyed, she sighed. “I suppose she did. But like I said, it didn’t matter. She was a fairy now. And she was a very good fairy. Very serious. A true scholar. She was the first to answer whenever the Reul Ghorn asked a question, and the quickest to learn spells.”

“What kind of spells?”

“Oh, fairies have many powers. Red was particularly good with plants. She could make them flourish with a wave of her wand. And Green was very good with animals. She once convinced a whole lake of fish to perform a ballet for her and the other fairies.”

Rumpel laughed. “Why?”

Flora laughed too. “I have no idea. I suppose she thought it would be funny. And it was.”

“Did Red like it?”

“Red was mesmerized. She had never seen anything so beautiful before.”

“Did the Reul Ghorm like it?”

“Oh, no, she did not,” Flora chuckled. “She thought Green was wasting fairy dust and time. And she already had a reputation as a troublemaker.”

“Why?”

Flora shrugged. “Missing her curfew. Picking fights with dwarfs. Now a fish ballet. She had been trying her luck for a few years now. Which is why the Reul Ghorm chastised her in front of the other fairies and sent her to her room to study her lessons.”

Flora watched the little boy. He was still concentrating on her words, but his breathing was steady. He’d soon fall asleep.

“Red thought the Reul Ghorm was a little too harsh, to be honest. The fairies hardly ever had any time to have fun. So Red flourished a large bouquet of snowbells as a gift, to let Green know her fish ballet had not been a waste of time. Quite the opposite, it had been the most beautiful thing Red had witnessed as a fairy so far. And, because of that, they became friends.

“From that day on, they did everything together,” Flora proceeded, “Learn spells. Deliver fairy dust. Help those in need. Even cause a little trouble now and then.”

Rumpel giggled, but very quietly.

“I suppose Green  _was_  a bit of a bad influence. And, slowly, they fell in love with each other.”

Rumpel frowned, but didn’t open his eyes when he asked, “But they were both girls.”

He didn’t see her shrug. “Love, when you grow up, you’ll see that it hardly matters.”

“Really?”

“Really. What matters is that they made each other happy and they couldn’t imagine a life without one another.” Flora’s smile died. “But fairies are not allowed to love.”

“Why?”

“Love is a beautiful thing. True Love is the most powerful magic of all. But a fairy must focus on helping others. She cannot give all of her heart to just one person. She must love all equally, or as equally as one can. So, they left the other fairies and came back to live among other humans.”

“Did they become human again?”

“They did.”

“How?”

“They cut off each other’s wings.”

Rumpel’s eyes snapped open and he gasped.

“No, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. It didn’t hurt much. And sometimes you need to go through a little pain so that you can be with the ones you love.” She reached for his eyelids and pushed them back down very gently. “Don’t dream of that. Dream of how happy they were with each other after that. They found a little cottage and lived happily ever after.”

“Promise?” he asked. By the sound of his voice, he was already dozing off.

“Promise,” she smiled. “They lived together for the rest of their lives. They were never apart one day.”

Flora brushed hair away from his face and waited until his breathing grew heavy. Rumpel was smiling now and she felt satisfied with herself.

When Flora got up, she realized Fauna was at the door, watching them.

“Hi,” Flora said, quietly.

Fauna smiled back, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders more tightly. “Is this the moment you say ‘I told you so’?”

“I’ll save it for the day I’m feeling vengeful.”

“Lucky me.”

Fauna waited for her to get inside the bedroom and closed the door behind them.

“You got one thing wrong in your fairytale, my dear,” she said, when Flora settled back into bed.

“I don’t think I did.”

“The fish ballet.”

Flora arched an eyebrow.

“Green didn’t do it because she thought it would be funny. Although it was.”

“Hm?”

“She did it because she knew it would get Red’s attention.”

“Is that so?”

“Worked, didn’t it?”

Flora feigned indifference. “The singing crab was a bit too much.”

Fauna’s smile was mischievous. “The singing crab was a touch of genius.”


End file.
